Sullivan County Schools employees ask for higher pay

Employees with the Sullivan County School District gathered at a Wednesday county commission meeting to voice support for higher pay, citing a disparity between county teacher salary and that of Kingsport and Bristol City Schools’ teachers. Sullivan County Director of Schools Chuck Carter is asking for the raise to meet Gov. Lee’s mandate to raise starting salary for teachers to $50,000 by 2026. He’s also seeks a 15% raise across the board for all school system employees. Many commissioners argued that property taxes would rise to accommodate the district-wide pay raise. The school board still has to re-present their submission of the budget at next week’s Sullivan County Commission budget meeting, Wednesday, June 12 at 4pm.